I'm not really that much of a collector when it comes to books. I simply like to keep the books I buy after I've read them.
However, I do end up passing some on to other reader friends of mine, or donate them to the library.
Rare stuff or treasures? Nope, not really. I do like my signed copies of books when I go to book signings however. Those stay with me.
About the only thing I have that would qualify as OLD is a complete book of Sherlock Holmes stories that my dad had and gave me. The book is at least 50 years old but it is more of a sentimental treasure because it was my dad's rather than a potential financial windfall.
When my parents died fairly recently, I called dibs on their books - to my husband's dismay. We already have enough books for a small library, but isn't that the secret wish of all mystery readers? To have a British-style library with a fireplace, leather chairs and floor to ceiling books? Well, it was my not-so-secret wish. I ended up sharing Mom and Dad's books - even the mysteries - because there were just too many and some were not to my taste. I passed on Sax Rohmer's Fu Manchu mysteries, for instance. I never saw either of my parents read them so they might have been from my dad's father's collection. I did claim a lot of my mom's Ellery Queen and Mary Roberts Rinehart books, even though I don't really collect them. My mom and I both collected Agatha Christie's so I was able to fill a few gaps and passed the duplicates on to my sister, who has just discovered Christie.
What it boils down to, is my collection is old and new favorites - books I would read again - more that valuable books. But they are treasures to me!
